Bluegrass and Blue-eyed Grass April 20, 2014

Whenever I am at Almost Pi, I try to attend whatever is on at the Dance Palace.  Last night it happened to be bluegrass with Blaine Sprouse.  I know nothing about bluegrass music and have never heard of Blaine Sprouse, but apparently he is one hot bluegrass violinist and he is now a resident of Inverness.  He and his contingent of very talented local musicians – on guitar, banjo, mandolin, cello, and bass – got the SRO crowd at the Palace stomping their feet in delight.  Mine, too!

Twelve hours later, I encountered another kind of blue grass.  This morning’s weather was beautiful and as it is whale migration month, I headed out to the Point to search for the cetacean mothers and their babies.  Though I peered through my Grandfather Fisher’s binoculars for a few hours at four different locations, I failed to spot a whale.  Still, I hiked out to Chimney Rock to look at the April wildflowers.  Among the many beauties – checkerbloom, pussy’s ear, scarlet pimpernel, lupine both purple and yellow, Indian paintbrush, and poppy – was the tiny blue-eyed grass, which seems more purple than blue, but charming just the same.

Back to Normal April 17, 2014

I was beginning to despair that the wildlife at Almost Pi had simply disappeared.  The drought had lasted so long, and I hadn’t seen a bobcat, an egret, or even a gopher in ages.  But when I arrived today, a heron flew into the green pasture as if to reassure me that all was well with the ecosystem.  By mid-afternoon a family of deer leapt through the grass, now almost as tall as they are.   Birds of all sorts and sizes, from the tiny hummingbird who seemed keen to explore the corners of windows, through a pair of goldfinches who lingered by the rosebush and irises, to vultures who were enraptured by the neighboring field, brightened my day.